Whip finishing tool

ABSTRACT

A fly tyer&#39;&#39;s whip finishing tool comprising a one piece rigid slender element having a first substantially straight end portion with a hook formed at its free end; a substantially straight first intermediate portion having one end connected to and extending laterally from the opposite end of the first end portion; a U-shaped second intermediate portion having a pair of substantially parallel legs connected to the first intermediate portion; and a substantially straight second end portion which extends in a direction away from the first intermediate portion. The U-shaped portion defines a thread receiving socket in a plane substantially parallel to the free end hook and opening in the same direction. The second named end portion defines a handle and rotating axis for the device.

United States Patent [191 Matarelli [4 1 Feb. 18, 1975 1 WHIP FINISHINGTOOL [76] Inventor: Frank W. Matarelli, 4426 Irving St.,

San Francisco, Calif. 94122 22 Filed: May 8,1974

21 Appl. No.: 468,030

[52] US. Cl. 289/17 [51] Int. Cl. D03j 3/00 [58] Field of Search 289/15,17; 140/122, 123; 43/4 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS2,859,994 11/1958 whitlingeru n 289/17 2,899,226 8/1959 Lint 289/173,229,729 l/1966 Robey et al 140/123 Primary Examiner-Louis K. RimrodtAttorney, Agent, or Firm-Warren, Rubin & Chickering [5 7] ABSTRACT A flytyers whip finishing tool comprising a one piece rigid slender elementhaving a first substantially straight end portion with a hook formed atits free end; a substantially straight first intermediate portion havingone end connected to and extending laterally from the opposite end ofthe first end portion; a U- shaped second intermediate portion having apair of substantially parallel legs connected to the first intermediateportion; and a substantially straight second end portion which extendsin a direction away from the first intermediate portion. The U-shapedportion defines a thread receiving socket in a plane substantiallyparallel to the-free end hook and opening in the same direction. Thesecond named end portion defines a handle and rotating axis for thedevice.

10 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PATENIEU FEB 1 ems SHEEI 2 BF 3 PATENIEDFEB 1 8 ms sum 3 OF 3 1 WHIP FINISHING TOOL BACKGROUND OF INVENTION Theinvention relates to tools used as an aid to an- I glers in tying fliesand, more specifically, in securing the tying thread to the hook shankand forming what is known as a whip finishing knot, see for example, US.Pat. No. 2,899,226.

Various tools have been proposed and some are being successfully used byanglers for tying flies. Generally the use of these tools are fairlydifficult to master and require considerable skill and training toproduce quality .fiy heads. Some are peculiarly designed foreither'right hand or left hand users and for small and large hooks.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Another object of the present invention is toprovide a whip finishing tool which is equally applicable to eitherright or left hand users and which in a single size, may be used fortying of various size hooks.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some ofwhich of the foregoing will be set forth in the following description ofthe preferred form of the invention which is illustrated-in the drawingsaccompanying and forming part of this specification. It is to beunderstood, however, that variations in the showing made by thesaiddrawings and description may be adopted within the scope of theinvention as set forth in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION or DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a whipfinishing tool constructed in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 isa side elevation of the tool shown in con-,

junction with a fly hook and thread and thread bobbin in a firstposition of use.

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the parts of FIG. 2 in a second positionof use.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the tool and associated parts in a thirdposition of use.

FIG. 5 is a side elevation of the tool and parts in a fourth position ofuse.

FIG. 6 is a side elevation of the tool and associated I,

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION The whip finishing tool of the presentinvention com prises briefly a rigid slender element 11, such as steelwire, having a substantially straight free end portion 12 with a hook 13formed at its free end; a substantially straight intermediate portion 14having one end 15 connected to and extending laterally from the oppositeend 16 of portion 12; a U-shaped intermediate portion 17 having one end18 connected to the opposite end 19- use of the tool, end portion 12 andintermediate portion 14 form an included angle of less than As will beseen in the later description of the use of the tool, this angulation ofportion 14 forms an inclined ramp over which the thread may slide intothe channel formed by the U-shaped intermediate portion 17, see FIG. 3.

As will also be observed from the drawings, intermediate portion 17 iscomposed of a pair of legs 23 and 24 positioned in a substantiallycommon plane with hook 13, end portion 12 and intermediate portion 14.These legs are joined at one end in a loop portion 26 and have theiropposite ends 18 and22 connected to ends 19. and 27 of portions 14 and21, respectively. It will further be noted that legs 23 and 24 aresubstantially parallel to eachother and to end portion 12 with the openend 28 of thethread receiving channel defined by the legs opening in thesame direction as hook l3. Further,'and as an aid to retaining thethread within the channel, see FIG. 4, et seq., loop portion 26 ispreferably offset from legs 23 and 24 in the direction of end portion12, thus trapping the thread within the offset loop when the thread isunder tension as shown in FIGS. 46.

As a further feature of the present construction, end portion 21 extendsaway from the U-shaped intermediate portion 17 at substantially rightangles, thereby forming a convenient axis of rotation of the, toolaround the hook shank 31 when in use. As a further aid to suchmanipulation of the tool, the handle forming end 21 is preferablydisposed ina plane substantially coincident with end portion 12, andlegs 23 and 24 of intermediate portion 17. Finally, to facilitate theproper rotation of the tool around the shank 31 of-the hook being tied,a manually engageable sleeve 32 is here mounted in surrounding relationto end 21 for journalling the latter for rotation. Enlargements 33 and34 are preferably provided on end 21 at the opposite ends of sleeve 32for centering sleeve 32 on end 21 and providing finger engaging stops torestrain relative rotation.

OPERATION The fish hook 36 to be tied is fastened in the usual manner inthe jaws of a conventional hook supporting vise 37 with the hook shank31 projecting generally horizontally therefrom as depicted in the FIGS.1-9.

Fly tying thread 38 carried by bobbin 39 is wound around shank '31 toinitialling position and secure hackle 41 in desired position on thehook. The tool of the present invention will then be used to completethe tying of the hackle and a forming of the conventional whip finishingknot. After the hackle or material has been initially secured, as shownin FIG. 2, bobbin 39 will be held in the left hand 42 of the user whilethe tool handle 32 is engaged by the right hand of the user, assumingthe user'to be right-handed. For left-handed persons, the hand positionmay be reversed. The first step is to engage hook 13 under thread 38drawing the latter upwardly, as shown in FIG. 2, while a length ofthread is payed out from bobbin 39. Due to the angularities and spacialrelationship of the parts above explained, the tool will automaticallyorient, i.e., rotate, to the position shown in FIG. 2. The tool is thenrotated 180 using finger pressure against enlargement 33 and- /oragainst the U-shaped intermediate portion 17,-and, at the same time,moving the tool downwardly with respect to the hook and moving thethread laterally to the right, as seen in FIG. 3, so as to slide overthe inclined intermediate portion 14 and into the entry slot 28 of theU-shaped portion 17. The thread 38 is then elevated in the slot with thebobbin moved back to the left, as seen in FIG. 4, with the thread 38generally paralleling the hook shank 31. As will be clear from theforegoing description of the parts, the tool-will assume a stablerotated position as seen in FIG. 4. In this position, it is important tonote the triangle formed by the thread and composed of an altitudedimension 46 extending generally perpendicular to hook shank 31 betweenthe shank and the tool hook 13, a base dimension 47 extending betweenhook 13 and loop 26 and a hypotenuse dimension 48 extending from loop 26and alongside of book shank 31. The offsetting of loop 26 in thedirection of hook 13 tends to keep the thread in the loop so long as thethread is taut. The size of the thread triangle is controlled andmay,from time to time, be adjusted by the user, by the amount of threadpayed out from the bobbin. 7

The next step, as shown in FIG. 5, is to effect a winding of thealtitude side 46 around the tool shank and at the same time around theparallel drawn thread side 48. This may be readily accomplished bymerely rotating the tool handle in a circle clockwise around the axis ofthe shank. With such rotation, thetool head will automatically rotate toposition the plane of end 12, intermediate portion 14, and U-shapedportion 17, radially of the axis of rotation; and during such rotation,the user can control the thread leaving the bobbin so as to in turncontrol the size of the thread triangle. With the triangle, the user canswing the altitude thread 46 over the hackle, around the wing andotherwise manipulate the thread to best tie down the fly and at the sametime form the multiplicity of loops 51 around the hook shank and threadside 48 as required for forming the whip finishing knot.

When the desired number of loops 51 have been formed as illustrated inFIG. 6, the user will place his left thumb 52 or other finger againstloops 51 to retain the thread in position while disengaging the tool.Such disengagement may be easily effected by relative displacement ofthe tool and thread as illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7. When the tool hasbeen so disengaged, tool hook 13 is engaged with the thread loop formedby the excess thread on removal of the tool, finger 52 is withdrawn fromthe loops 51, and the right and left hands of the user are moved apartso as to place the thread, including loop 53, under tension. The threadcontrolled by the users left hand and depicted at 54 in FIGS. 8

and 9, is drawn to the left, as seen in the drawings, thus reducing thesize of loop 53. During such loop reduction, some'force is maintained bythe users right hand, which keeps loop 53 taut as it is drawn down tothe hook shank. As the loop is reduced to nothing, hook 13 is slippedout of the loop and thread 54 drawn to complete a clean finish at theright-hand end of loops 51,

as viewed in FIG. 9. Thread 54 may then be severed at.

the left-hand end of loops 51 so as to complete the whip finishing knot.

vWhat is claimed is:

l. A whip finishing tool comprising:

a rigid slender element having a first substantially straight free endportion with a hook formed at its free end;

a substantially straight first intermediate portion having one endconnected to and extending laterally from the opposite end of said firstend portion;

a second U-shaped intermediate portion having one end connected to theopposite end of said first in termediate portion and extending laterallythere- .from in the direction of said first end portion; and

a manually engageable substantially straight second end portionconnected to the opposite end of said second intermediate portion andextendingtherefrom in a direction away from said first intermediateportion.

2. A tool as defined in claim 1, said first intermediate portionextending away from said first end portion in a direction opposite toand in substantially the same plane as said hook.

3. A tool as defined in claim 2, said second intermediate portioncomprising a pair of legs positioned in a substantially common planewith said hook and said first end portion and said first intermediateportion.

4. A tool as defined in claim 3, said legs being joined at one endin aloop portion and having their opposite ends connected to said firstintermediate portion and said second end portion.

5. A tool as defined in claim 4, said legs being substantially parallelto each other and to said first end portion.

6. A tool as defined in claim 5, said loop portion being offset fromsaid legs in the direction of said first end portion.

7. A tool as defined in claim 1, said first end portion and said firstintermediate portion forming an included angle of less than 8. A tool asdefined in claim 1, said second end portion extending substantiallyperpendicular to said second intermediate portion.

9. A tool as defined in claim 8, said second end portion extending in aplane substantially coincident with said first end portion and saidfirst and second intermediate portion.

10. A tool as defined in claim 9, and a manually engageable sleevesurrounding and journalling for rotation said second end portion.

1. A whip finishing tool comprising: a rigid slender element having afirst substantially straight free end portion with a hook formed at itsfree end; a substantially straight first intermedIate portion having oneend connected to and extending laterally from the opposite end of saidfirst end portion; a second U-shaped intermediate portion having one endconnected to the opposite end of said first intermediate portion andextending laterally therefrom in the direction of said first endportion; and a manually engageable substantially straight second endportion connected to the opposite end of said second intermediateportion and extending therefrom in a direction away from said firstintermediate portion.
 2. A tool as defined in claim 1, said firstintermediate portion extending away from said first end portion in adirection opposite to and in substantially the same plane as said hook.3. A tool as defined in claim 2, said second intermediate portioncomprising a pair of legs positioned in a substantially common planewith said hook and said first end portion and said first intermediateportion.
 4. A tool as defined in claim 3, said legs being joined at oneend in a loop portion and having their opposite ends connected to saidfirst intermediate portion and said second end portion.
 5. A tool asdefined in claim 4, said legs being substantially parallel to each otherand to said first end portion.
 6. A tool as defined in claim 5, saidloop portion being offset from said legs in the direction of said firstend portion.
 7. A tool as defined in claim 1, said first end portion andsaid first intermediate portion forming an included angle of less than90*.
 8. A tool as defined in claim 1, said second end portion extendingsubstantially perpendicular to said second intermediate portion.
 9. Atool as defined in claim 8, said second end portion extending in a planesubstantially coincident with said first end portion and said first andsecond intermediate portion.
 10. A tool as defined in claim 9, and amanually engageable sleeve surrounding and journalling for rotation saidsecond end portion.